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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18. Professional And Occupational Licensing
Agency 90. Board of Nursing
Chapter 27. Regulations for Nursing Education Programs
11/5/2024

18VAC90-27-100. Curriculum for direct client care.

A. A nursing education program preparing a student for licensure as a registered nurse shall provide a minimum of 500 hours of direct client care supervised by qualified faculty. A nursing education program preparing a student for licensure as a practical nurse shall provide a minimum of 400 hours of direct client care supervised by qualified faculty. Direct client care hours shall include experiences and settings as set forth in 18VAC90-27-90 B 1.

B. Licensed practical nurses transitioning into prelicensure registered nursing programs may be awarded no more than 150 clinical hours of the 400 clinical hours received in a practical nursing program. In a practical nursing to registered nursing transitional program, the remainder of the clinical hours shall include registered nursing clinical experience across the life cycle in adult medical/surgical nursing, maternal/infant (obstetrics, gynecology, neonatal) nursing, mental health/psychiatric nursing, and pediatric nursing.

C. Any observational experiences shall be planned in cooperation with the agency involved to meet stated course objectives. Observational experiences shall not be accepted toward the 400 or 500 minimum clinical hours required. Observational objectives shall be available to students, the clinical unit, and the board.

D. Simulation for direct client clinical hours.

1. No more than 25% of direct client contact hours may be simulation. For prelicensure registered nursing programs, the total of simulated client care hours cannot exceed 125 hours (25% of the required 500 hours). For prelicensure practical nursing programs, the total of simulated client care hours cannot exceed 100 hours (25% of the required 400 hours).

2. No more than 50% of the total clinical hours for any course may be used as simulation. If courses are integrated, simulation shall not be used for more than 50% of the total clinical hours in different clinical specialties and population groups across the life span.

3. Skills acquisition and task training alone, as in the traditional use of a skills laboratory, do not qualify as simulated client care and therefore do not meet the requirements for direct client care hours.

4. Clinical simulation must be led by faculty who meet the qualifications specified in 18VAC90-27-60. Faculty with education and expertise in simulation and in the applicable subject area must be present during the simulation experience.

5. Documentation of the following shall be available for all simulated experiences:

a. Course description and objectives;

b. Type of simulation and location of simulated experience;

c. Number of simulated hours;

d. Faculty qualifications;

e. Methods of pre-briefing and debriefing;

f. Evaluation of simulated experience; and

g. Method to communicate student performance to clinical faculty.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-2400 and 54.1-3005 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 33, Issue 10, eff. February 24, 2017; amended, Virginia Register Volume 38, Issue 10, eff. February 2, 2022.

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